1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to target recognition. More particularly, the present invention relates to an automatic target recognition (ATR) computer software program which uses Laser Radar (Ladar) data and three dimensional image data for target identification.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There is currently a need by the military for fast and accurate real time target recognition especially in a battle field environment. There are several benefits to having instantaneous and accurate target recognition including the prevention of serious harm or loss of life to troops in a hostile environment.
In the past target recognition devices have utilized maximum average correlation height (MACH) filtering techniques. These target recognition devices generally operate in a two dimensional space resulting in target recognition which is sometimes inaccurate and also not timely in providing needed target recognition data.
Three dimensional data for an object is reduced to two dimensional computer graphics for processing by a computer to determine the characteristics of a target or weapons system. Once these two dimensional characteristics are determined a comparison is made with information in a data base to identify the target. The fact that only two dimensional data is used will often lead to an erroneous result which can be very costly especially to military personnel in a combat environment who depend on accurate results to formulate their battle plans and defenses against these targets or weapons systems.
To improve results, it is very important that the target recognition device operate in a three dimensional image space to make use of all relevant data and allow a user to accurately determine the identity of a target or weapons system. The target recognition process needs to operate on three dimensional surfaces and process the data in three dimensions. Ladar data operates in three dimensional space and thus is very useful for target recognition processing.